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Proposal to Use Laser-Accelerated Electrons to Probe the Axion-Electron Coupling

Georgios Vacalis1,*, Atsushi Higuchi2, Robert Bingham3,4, and Gianluca Gregori1

  • *Contact author: georgios.vacalis@chch.ox.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 195003 – Published 6 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/vgvg-hcbr

Abstract

The axion is a hypothetical particle associated with a possible solution to the strong CP problem and is a leading candidate for dark matter. In this Letter we investigate the emission of axions by accelerated electrons. We find the emission probability and energy within the WKB approximation for an electron accelerated by an electromagnetic field. As an application, we estimate the number of axions produced by electrons accelerated using two counterpropagating high-intensity lasers and discuss how they would be converted to photons to be detected. We find that, under realistic experimental conditions, competitive model-independent bounds on the coupling between the axion and the electron could be achieved in such an experiment.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 195003– Published 6 November, 2025
  • Received 14 May 2025
  • Accepted 20 October 2025
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